Luke 14

Healing Again on the Sabbath

1 Nowt one Sabbath when Jesus went to dinet at the house of a leadert of the Pharisees,s they were watchings him closely.2 Theret rightt in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy.s3 Sot Jesus askedt the experts in religious lawt and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbaths or not?”4 But they remained silent. Sot Jesust took hold of the man,t healed him, and sent him away.t5 Thent he said to them, “Which of you, if you have a sons or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?”

6 Butt they could not replys to this.

On Seeking Seats of Honor

7 Thent when Jesust noticed how the guestst chose the places of honor,t he told them a parable. He said to them,8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast,t do not taket the place of honor, because a person more distinguished than you may have been invited by your host.t9 Sot the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then, ashamed,t you will begin to move to the least importantt place.10 But when you are invited, go and take the least important place, so that when your hostt approaches he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up here to a better place.’t Then you will be honored in the presence of all who share the meal with you.

11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, butt the one who humbless himself will be exalted.”
12 Het said also to the mans who had invited him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet,t don’t invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors so you can be invited by them in return and get repaid.13 But when you host an elaborate meal,t invite the poor, the crippled,s the lame, andt the blind.s

14 Thent you will be blessed,s because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaids at the resurrection of the righteous.”

The Parable of the Great Banquet

15 Whent one of those at the meal with Jesust heard this, he said to him, “Blessed is everyonet who will feastt in the kingdom of God!”s16 But Jesust said to him, “A man once gave a great banquett and inviteds many guests.t17 Att the time for the banquett he sent his slavet to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’18 But one after another they allt began to make excuses.s The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field,s and I must go out and see it. Please excuse me.’s19 Anothert said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen,s and I am going outt to examine them. Please excuse me.’20 Anothert said, ‘I just got married, and I cannot come.’s21 Sot the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the master of the household was furioust and said to his slave, ‘Go out quicklys to the streets and alleys of the city,t and bring in the poor,s the crippled,t the blind, and the lame.’22 Thent the slave said, ‘Sir, what you instructed has been done, and there is still room.’s23 Sot the master said to hist slave, ‘Go out to the highwayss and country roadst and urget peoplet to come in, so that my house will be filled.s

24 For I tell you, not one of those individualst who were inviteds will taste my banquet!’”t

Counting the Cost

25 Now large crowdss were accompanying Jesus,t and turning to them he said,26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hatet his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life,t he cannot be my disciple.27 Whoever does not carry his own crosss and followt me cannot be my disciple.28 For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t sit downt first and compute the costt to see if he has enough money to complete it?29 Otherwise,t when he has laidt a foundation and is not able to finish the tower,t all who see itt will begin to make fun oft him.30 They will say,t ‘This mans began to build and was not able to finish!’s31 Or what king, going out to confront another king in battle, will not sit downt first and determine whether he is able with ten thousand to opposet the one coming against him with twenty thousand?32 If he cannot succeed,t he will send a representativet while the other is still a long way off and ask for terms of peace.s

33 In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions.ts
34 “Saltts is good, but if salt loses its flavor,s how can its flavor be restored?

35 It is of no valuet for the soil or for the manure pile; it is to be thrown out.t The one who has ears to hear had better listen!”t

LUKE 14

Jesus Heals a Sick Man

1 One Sabbath, Jesus was having dinner in the home of an important Pharisee, and everyone was carefully watching Jesus. 2 All of a sudden a man with swollen legs stood up in front of him. 3 Jesus turned and asked the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses, “Is it right to heal on the Sabbath?”

4 But they did not say a word.
Jesus took hold of the man. Then he healed him and sent him away. 5 t Afterwards, Jesus asked the people, “If your son or ox falls into a well, wouldn't you pull him out at once, even on the Sabbath?”

6 There was nothing they could say.

How To Be a Guest

7 Jesus saw how the guests had tried to take the best seats. So he told them:
8  t When you are invited to a wedding feast, don't sit in the best place. Someone more important may have been invited.

9 Then the one who invited you will come and say, “Give your place to this other guest!” You will be embarrassed and will have to sit in the worst place.
10 When you are invited to be a guest, go and sit in the worst place. Then the one who invited you may come and say, “My friend, take a better seat!” You will then be honored in front of all the other guests.

11 t If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.

12 Then Jesus said to the man who had invited him:
When you give a dinner or a banquet, don't invite your friends and family and relatives and rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in return, and you will be paid back. 13 When you give a feast, invite the poor, the paralyzed, the lame, and the blind.

14 They cannot pay you back. But God will bless you and reward you when his people rise from death.

The Great Banquet

(Matthew 22.1-10)

15 After Jesus had finished speaking, one of the guests said, “The greatest blessing of all is to be at the banquet in God's kingdom!”

16 Jesus told him:
A man once gave a great banquet and invited a lot of guests.

17 When the banquet was ready, he sent a servant to tell the guests, “Everything is ready! Please come.”

18 One guest after another started making excuses. The first one said, “I bought some land, and I've got to look it over. Please excuse me.”

19 Another guest said, “I bought five teams of oxen, and I need to try them out. Please excuse me.”

20 Still another guest said, “I've just now married, and I can't be there.”

21 The servant told his master what happened, and the master became so angry he said, “Go as fast as you can to every street and alley in town! Bring in everyone who is poor or paralyzed or blind or lame.”

22 When the servant returned, he said, “Master, I've done what you told me, and there is still plenty of room for more people.”
23 His master then told him, “Go out along the back roads and make people come in, so my house will be full.

24 Not one of the guests I first invited will get even a bite of my food!”

Being a Disciple

(Matthew 10.37,38)

25 Large crowds were walking along with Jesus, when he turned and said:

26  t You cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot follow me unless you love me more than you love your own life.

27  t You cannot be my disciple unless you carry your own cross and follow me.
28 Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. What is the first thing you will do? Won't you sit down and figure out how much it will cost and if you have enough money to pay for it? 29 Otherwise, you will start building the tower, but not be able to finish. Then everyone who sees what is happening will laugh at you.

30 They will say, “You started building, but could not finish the job.”
31 What will a king do if he has only 10,000 soldiers to defend himself against a king who is about to attack him with 20,000 soldiers? Before he goes out to battle, won't he first sit down and decide if he can win? 32 If he thinks he won't be able to defend himself, he will send messengers and ask for peace while the other king is still a long way off.

33 So then, you cannot be my disciple unless you give away everything you own.

Salt and Light

(Matthew 5.13; Mark 9.50)